re: Annie Raines Tune

[scott gold <mwmgum@xxxxxxx>]

on Sat, 8 Feb 2003 10:31:41 -0500 
in his Subject: Annie Raines Tune,
Larry boy asked:

>
> I'm trying to learn "Even Good Women Have Bad Days" from Annie and Paul 
> Rischell's "Going Up the Country" CD. I think the harp is a C in 3rd 
> position. Does that sound right to anyone else?


Larry Boy,

you are in luck:
 
a) i just picked this cd up in the  bargain basement used bin here on guam--
    $00.95!!  (what did they do with that "cents" key?)
b) i now have power back since super-typhoon Ponsonga hit on 08 DEC.
c) i have nothing to do on a lazy sunday morning in tropical paradise.

anyway, the answer is  definitely:
C-Chrom played in 3rd (D).

the sounds and tones of the harp here are classic Chrom sounds.

i guess some things to listen for to help distinguish whether
the BLUES tune in question is performed on the diatonic or Chrom are:

1. TYPICAL NOTE PATTERNS
    typical note patterns (dorian scale) that most
    Chrom blues players employ due to ease --
    that is, in this case, d, e, f, g, a, b, c, d,
    (4D, 5B, 5D, 6B, 6D, 7D, 7D, 8D on a short harp,
     or, 5D, 6B, 6D, 7B, 7D, 8B, 8D, 9D on typical 16-hole Chroms).
    in other words, no button work, so you don't
    hear the A-flat (7B, button in, 6D-bend on the short harp).
    this is the flat-v of the traditional 5-tone blues scale
   (i, iiib, iv, vb, viib, or D, G, Ab, A, C ion the key of D,
    C, F, Gb, G, Bb in the key of C).  therefore diatonic blues
   and Chrom blues will sound differently by the note set used.
  
2. TYPICAL PHRASE PATTERNS
    what you do hear typically is a lot of patterns based on the 
    Chrom draw notes (D, F, A, C), which are the notes that 
    make up a Dmin7 chord.  this is why even though the
    song seems to be in D, when Annie takes her solo, it
    has a darker feel to it -- she is playing a lot of D-minor
    notes and patterns.  this is a very typical situation when
    blues players pick up the big stick.

3. CHORD BACKING WITH TONGUE SLAPS, ETC.
     when tongue-blocking-- tongue-slaps, hammer-on octaves, flutters,
    and the like typical of the Chicago style - and which Annie employs 
    here -  the note layout emphasizes issue No. 2 above - IOW, you can
    hear the backing chords of the main melody notes played, and these backing
    chords are not always the same on the Chrom as the diatonic due to
     the layout of the Chrom and the richter layout of the diatonic.  however, 
    if you were to use a diatonic with a Chrom layout (solo-tuned),
    this particular difference would not exist.

3. VALVES 
    another give away is the natural tone of the Chrom vs. 
    the short harp, which has to do w/ valves on the Chrom
    and not on the diatonic.  there are other subtle differences,
    but this is the easiest to identify, i think.

now, reasons why you might have "felt" this was played on
a C-diatonic as opposed to a Chrom:

1. AMP GAIN
    Annie is using some gain on her amp - giving the Chrom
    a dirtier sound, normally (but of course, not always) 
    associated with short harp/amp play for blues.

2. BENDING NOTES 
   Annie is bending notes, which, for some reason, many folks
    think is impossible, or simply not done since the button is there,
   or that valves are there.  but this is not true.  Chrom notes can easily
   be bent, and you can hear it in the recording.

oh, and one more thing, you might want to check the liner notes--
they also say Chrom was used for this song!

okay, that's it!  i hope i didn't make too many typos on the notes/tab
section -- plenty of time to write, no time to check my work!

all the best from the inter-tropical convergence zone,

sg
tumon bay, guam